Woman who allegedly had duo stab her gets prison

BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) – A Nebraska woman has been sentenced to a year in prison for allegedly having two male acquaintances stab her so she could get out of going to a probation appointment _ a scheme the judge described as taking “stupid to an extreme.”

Jessalyn Stierwalt, Scott Roberson-Turman and Jerry Duke II, each pleaded no contest to misdemeanor obstruction of government operations in exchange for reduced charges, the Beatrice Daily Sun reported (http://bit.ly/JMmwRe). Gage County District Judge Paul Korslund on Wednesday sentenced Stierwalt and Roberson-Turman to a year in prison, each.

Duke’s sentencing, which was scheduled for Thursday, was postponed until May 17.

Prosecutors allege that Stierwalt, of Beatrice, asked Roberson-Turman, of Fairbury, and Duke, of Beatrice, to stab her in the abdomen and shoulder last July so she could avoid going to a probation appointment the next morning because she needed time to “sober up.”

Korslund sentenced Stierwalt and Roberson-Turman to the maximum possible term for the offense, rejecting Stierwalt’s request for leniency.

“You have taken doing something stupid to an extreme that I don’t think I’ve seen before,” Korslund told Stierwalt. “I’ve thought about how to describe this, and the word `stupid’ just keeps coming back.”

He said Stierwalt was shown leniency when prosecutors dropped a felony conspiracy charge to a misdemeanor.

Korslund gave Stierwalt credit for 112 days in jail awaiting trial. She’ll be eligible for parole in about three months. Roberson-Turman will be eligible for parole in about six months.

A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but is treated as one for sentencing purposes.